Finally gotten around to catching up on television in the aftermath of The Following: Kevin Bacon quoting Poe and gruesome serial killers was too much to bear for a few episodes.

Today was all about trying on russian KGB sleeper spies, Cold War and patriotic feeling that (by the way of this writer ‘talking’ to you now being italian) have nothing or very marginally to do with my own heritage of history. Being only 30 years old, if that, doesn’t help actually knowing what was going on in the eighties, besides what you read from books and quick end-of-semester lessons in highschool.

Am i being intentionally dense in the writing? Yes, i am, for The Americans just gives you that nagging feeling of length without purpose, silence, conspiracy stripped to a minimum to allow for personal ‘stuff’, not knowing exactly where it wants to go and a pinch of contradictions.

This said it is undeniable that Keri Russel has a powerful presence, which is a definite plus for the series. Can’t say the same about her male lead, or any other male in the pilot for that matter: Matthew Rhys always looks better in british productions, for the ‘look who they dug up segment’ we have Noah Emmerich and Michael Gaston, one of those you sort-of remember from something they’ve done but for the love of you just can’t recall.

Pros: the soundtrack is, quite obviously, 80’s a gogo and we’ll always love that. The 80’s setting and costumes itself: it’s like time travel to a place you know just to feel old that you do, to hell Downton Abbey and Mad Men, 1980s are the new past/period dramas.

The pilot was a bit long, maybe trying to give you as much information as possible but not always succeeding. In hopes there will be less plot holes in the future, keep watching, we’ll do.